


loved the stars too fondly (to be afraid of the night)

by jarynw02



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, But a Good Sister, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Found Family, Gen, Kid Fic, Kushina is a brat, Kushina-neesan, Mito-baachan, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, RIP, Reincarnation, Self Insert, Senju Clan - Freeform, Tsundere Tsunade, Uzumaki Clan, Yahiko-niisan, at first, but she's weak for her little cousin, eventually, field trip time with jiraiya!, mildly delusional narrator, minato is a shy bean, not really - Freeform, of sorts, she's only weak for dan, tiny flecks of angst that will build up until they implode
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28161198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarynw02/pseuds/jarynw02
Summary: Jona is happy with her new dream life. She’s an adorable four year old who justhappensto have Senju blood. It’s like living in a Naruto kidfic and she soaks up the attention from Mito-baachan and enjoys arguing with an easy to rile Kushina.Then Jiraiya takes her to meet Yahiko, her older brother, before bringing him and his friends back to Konoha.Things are changing, the dream is distorting, and maybe Jona’s dream life is less of a dream than she thought it was.— — —A simple weeb writer explores her identity via the Narutoverse. Featuring unhealthy favoritism of tsunderes, some imposter syndrome, lots of denial, and a mildly creepy countdown until Itachi is born.
Relationships: Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina, Uzumaki Mito & Original Character(s)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The last time I wrote a self-insert, I was sixteen and just wanted to be the sparkly kind of vampire. 
> 
> ps. i wrote this instead of updating anything popular bc i can't live without being contrary, apparently.

_ “Though my soul may set in darkness,  _

_ it will rise in perfect light; _

_ I have loved the stars too fondly, _

_ to be fearful of the night.” _

  
  


Waking without an alarm is her first sign that something is amiss. The brightness of the room beyond her closed eyes as well as the formal, sterile smell is her next. A soft beeping nudges her mind toward a memory, a reminder that this scenario isn’t entirely foreign, but considering she should be waking up in her own bed with her asshole cat meowing in her face as she barely catches the end of the thrice-snoozed alarm… it’s not exactly  _ familiar _ either. 

Finally, she blinks her eyes open. 

Then she stares. 

Not because she’s in a hospital, which is enough to be startling in its own right seeing as she was perfectly fine when she went to bed last night, but because of the face looking down at her. 

Sarutobi Hiruzen?

As in… the Sandaime Hokage?

From an  _ anime? _

...interesting. 

He looks so… real. Not a cartoon. Though, she supposes,  _ she  _ is real. At least, she thinks she is. Maybe this is a dream. That makes sense. Or, possibly, she’s dead. Less plausible, but not impossible because who actually knows what happens when someone dies?

A whisper sends her eyes darting toward one of the women flanking the Hokage and  _ damn  _ Tsunade is super hot in person. Wow. The jealousy tingles a bit, but the newfound urge to befriend the tsundere character burns bright. 

Stupid, irrational hospital thoughts. 

Now, she’s read enough fanfiction to see these hospital room conversations coming from a mile away. That said, there is a gaping hole in her understanding of how  _ her  _ little interview of sorts might go when given the fact that  _ she has no idea how she got here _ . Is she even still herself? She definitely can’t give them her American name that will be  _ beyond  _ suspicious in this world. 

Wait, why is she even taking this dream seriously? 

Maybe she’s been given painkillers…

She’s always too talkative with painkillers. 

Astoundingly, but unsurprisingly, she decides to speak first even after that little revelation. 

“Where am I?”

A flood of regret and pride at herself waves over her, because she  _ knows  _ where she is so that was a dumb question. But! It was a smart question. She takes a moment to flick her eyes around the room to see if there are any guards or maybe  _ Anbu  _ hiding in the corners like in the stories she’s read. When her eyes fall on a legitimate, actual Anbu standing at attention near the window she’s shocked. Surely, she’s not high profile enough to garner that kind of scrutiny, right? 

She studies the bits of hair she can see behind the white mask to try and see who they might be. 

“You’re in the hospital in Konoha,” Sarutobi’s voice answers her and she feels another shock, belatedly realizing that she’d spoken in English and yet he’d answered her in Japanese  _ but she had understood him _ . 

Strange, strange dream. 

At least it’s working to her advantage. 

Giving up on the Anbu at the whole automatic translation epiphany, she turns back to Tsunade and the Sandaime, happily ignoring the nondescript nurse beside them. She decides to try something that might be quite annoying and ruin this whole communication thing, but she has to test it out. 

“What happened to me, Hokage-sama?” she says in English, adding the honorific to the end just to see what the two of them might hear. 

Apparently, nothing terrible because his eyes only soften. “You were found by my shinobi in the forests of Fire Country. They returned you to us due to your coloring.”

Her coloring? Naturally, her hair is brown and her eyes are green. She likes her eyes, but her appearance isn’t generally special. She frowns. 

“What does that mean?” 

Tsunade seems to grumble under her breath at this, but she does not feel deterred by her attitude. The Sandaime hums, ignoring his student. 

And her apparently. 

“What is your name, child?”

_ Child?! _

Sure enough, one look down at her silhouette beneath the white blankets is much smaller than it should be. She should have expected that though. Most of the fan fictions revert time and dimension travellers back to youth or infancy. At least she didn’t dream about being born again.  _ That  _ would be awkward. 

“Um,” she starts, “I don’t know… I don’t remember being in the forest at all.” She starts to bring a hand up to scratch her hair, but there’s a tug from an IV and she pales, dropping the hand back onto the sheets. “I think I was named after somebody famous,” she rambles, trying to ignore how squeamish the IV makes her. “Somebody my parents both looked up to. And, uh, my dad was really prideful about his family name. But those are just… feelings… not really memories, I think.”

All true. She was named after a role in a Tom Cruise movie and her dad and his entire side of the family were  _ very  _ into traits they identified as signs of truly belonging to them. Personally, she always found it annoying especially when she couldn’t stop herself from feeling some of that same pride. 

Ugh. Past life bagage. 

Aren’t dreams supposed to be an escape? 

“Ah,” Sarutobi says innocuously while Tsunade widens her eyes. He tilts his head gingerly. “Well, your hair led the jounin who found you to believe that you are of Uzumaki descent. We have since verified this while you were being treated.” 

She frowns a little at that. Shouldn’t they have gotten her permission to test her blood or do whatever jutsu they used to determine her heritage? On the other hand, being an Uzumaki is quite convenient to possibly gaining herself some freedom from this hospital room to check out the village. Well, if there’s a village beyond the walls of the current scene of her dream. 

With her non-IV hand, she seeks out her hair, finding it braided behind her and thicker than it should be. Tugging it into view, sure enough, it’s red, though more specifically— orange, the shade she’s dyed her hair for the majority of the past four years. 

Interesting.

All she says in return to the Hokage is, “Um, okay.”

“What  _ do  _ you remember?” Tsunade all but snaps, her first words of the visit. 

She smiles in response, distantly wondering if now is the time that she finally needs to investigate the part of herself always determined to favor unfriendly people. 

“Nothing,” she says quickly, pursing her lips and looking off to think. “I mean, I think I could do some basic math… probably brush my hair if your hair brushes are the same as mine…” 

Tsunade bristles at the response exactly like she wanted her to. 

She grins. 

The Hokage ignores them both, humming to himself again. “An Uzumaki named after someone famous, hm?” She nods idly. “Mito might have an idea, especially considering your shade of red is a little off from the norm.”

Apparently, her reaction to mentioning Mito, and therefore leading her to think about the Kyuubi, is enough that both adults notice. Even the nurse awkwardly hovering a step behind them looks at her for a moment. 

“Unless Mito is that famous person?” Sarutobi gesticulates, understandably. “Were you named after Mito, the wife of the Shodaime Hokage?”

An idea pops into her mind and she’s not sure whether they’ll go for it or not… but she has to try it. 

“I… don’t know,” she says slowly, “but if she’s here I’d like to speak with her. I think she’s important.”

And also probably try to take Kushina’s place as the vessel so Naruto can have his parents. 

But she doesn’t say that part out loud. 

The Sandaime smiles down at her gently. “She’s already asked about you. We’ll take you to her as soon as you can leave the hospital.”

  
  


Just like her two previous hospital awakenings in her past life, she’s discharged fairly quickly after drinking some water and peeing without fainting or throwing up. This time also allows her the full view of just how small she is now, well, almost a full view. She’s too short to see herself in the mirror completely, but she’s seen enough of her baby pictures to recognize herself around age four or five. 

Perfect. Not only is she at her pinnacle of cuteness, which rapidly declines during adolescence, but she’s at the age that she should get all the adorable fluff scenes from the fan fictions. Maybe Mito will become like her surrogate grandmother. That would be wonderful considering how close she was with her past life grandmother. 

Her heart clenches and she leaves the bathroom, quick to scurry back up into her bed. 

Tsunade is the one to escort her, alongside two Anbu that mysteriously disappear when they first step out into the village. She really needs to figure out how chakra works if she’s going to fully enjoy her dream life in Naruto’s world. 

Pinching down a grin, she innocently reaches up for Tsunade’s hand as they move further into the village. Tsunade recoils, snapping a disgusted face down at her that’s absolutely hysterical, but she maintains her wide eyed expression until Tsunade relents. 

Four years old is truly a wonderful age. 

Being the nerd that she is, she recognizes the symbol of the Senju clan as they approach a set of massive gates in an austere off-white. She sticks close to Tsunade’s side, even as she performs some seal that must let them both enter, until they’re finally at the door to the largest visible home. It’s archaic, ancient, made completely of wood and so absolutely  _ perfect _ . 

She loves it immediately. 

A woman answers the door, politely referring to Tsunade as Tsunade-sama, and leads them back to Mito’s room. It looks just how it did in the flashback with Kushina, where she cries to Mito over becoming the jinchuriki. Luckily,  _ she _ doesn’t have any qualms about her own safety inside this psuedo-universe and is actually somewhat excited to try and convince Mito to let her take up her mantle. 

Mito’s apparent caretaker leaves them alone. 

“Tsunade-hime,” Mito says in that brittle, warm tone that all grandmothers seem to have. She’s propped up in bed, her small eyes dark as they take in the two newcomers. “You’ve brought my guest.”

She lets go of Tsunade’s hand without another thought and walks up to Mito’s bedside, taking in all the details of her face as they are in the flesh, rather than a cartoon or a drawing. Her small hands brace against the elder’s blankets. 

“Mito-sama,” she says with all the reverence she’s always given to her true grandmother— the one who raised her, who loved her in ways no one else ever has. “I was hoping you could help me remember my name. All I remember is she was someone famous.”

A laugh from Mito surprises her, but she smiles up at the old woman and takes the liberty of climbing up into the bed to kneel beside her. Mito raises a wrinkled hand to brush over her head, bringing the long, too-thick braid over her shoulder. 

“I’d recognize that brand of Uzumaki hair anywhere,” Mito says kindly, touching a finger to her nose in a playful gesture that startles her. “Not to mention that darling face, Jona.”

Jona! 

Wow, it’s perfect. Close enough to her old name that she’ll probably react when someone calls it out, especially if she can convince people to call her Jo. 

Her excitement must show on her face because Mito laughs again, though softer this time. “Yes, dear. My eldest child was finicky about staying in the village, but his beloved wife was a branch of the Uzumaki as well so you’re more Uzumaki than Senju, however I would recognize a granddaughter of mine anywhere.”

Jona’s lips part in quiet awe. She hadn’t been thinking Mito would be her  _ actual  _ grandmother, though that’s freakin’ awesome. What’s the word for grandma again?

“Baa-chan,” she whispers and Mito opens her arms. Jona cuddles up to her quickly, happy to be four again, and Mito strokes her hair. 

The caretaker from earlier pokes her head in and says something to Tsunade that makes her grumble out a, “Be right back.”

It’s almost too convenient. 

Jona pulls back from Mito and looks her in the eye, chewing her lip for a moment to work up both the cuteness and the courage. 

“Baa-chan, I want to watch the Kyuubi for you when you’re gone.”

Mito stills. “How do you know about that?”

“I- I don’t know,” she stutters back. “But I feel it here,” she raises a hand over her heart. “I can do it. And! If I’m your blood and I’m an Uzumaki then it should be me!”

Careful dark eyes scan over her young face. “Do you know what you’re asking, Jona-chan?”

She frowns then. “I won’t know until it’s happening,” she says. “But I know I can do it. I’ll figure it out along the way. I know I can.” Mito still looks skeptical so she adds, “Baa-chan, I really,  _ really  _ want to do this for you. I want to hold your legacy.  _ Please _ .”

A moment of silence passes before Jona can feel the heavy breath Mito releases. Fragile fingers thread through the loose wisps of dark orange, almost red, hair that have escaped from her braid to frame her face, and Mito sighs. 

But then she smiles again, the sort of sad smile that Jona’s seen before many, many times. 

“Alright,” Mito says. “But I will need to speak with Sarutobi-kun.”

Jona lets herself giggle at the casual use of the Hokage’s name before leaning up against her fictional baa-chan once more. 

“Baa-chan, will you tell me a story?”

“Hmm,” Mito hums. “What kind of story?”

“One from your life.”

“Oh, let me tell you about the first time I left your father alone with Hashirama as a baby…”

“Please!”

When Tsunade returns, both Uzumaki girls are asleep, the younger curled gently in their grandmother’s arms. Tsunade clenches her teeth at her new cousin, wary of waking the brat, before finally scooping the girl up and finding her a room deeper in the home. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jona wakes abruptly with no sign as to what caused it, though the flicker of curiosity is quickly lost after realizing that she’s waking up in a foreign place… again. Not a hospital this time, but a blank bedroom. She’s still wearing the little shorts and Uzumaki clan tee shirt that Tsunade gave her back in the hospital, so she’s probably still in her shinobi dream. 

However, that raises new concerns. How can she be  _ waking up _ inside a dream? Has she done that before? Slept inside a dream? The idea gives her the beginnings of a headache, so she shoves it aside. To distract herself, she climbs out of bed and pads over to the door on bare feet so she can peek out the door. 

She does not expect for two purple eyes to be staring down at her from the other side. 

An overdramatic screech leaves her lips as she jumps back, leaving the door to open and who can only be a young Uzumaki Kushina standing before her with her hands on her hips. 

Kushina frowns and turns her face away toward the hall. “But she’s a scaredy-cat!” she yells. 

Jona bristles immediately. “Am not!”

“Pfft,” Kushina scoffs, glaring back down at her. “You screamed like a little baby!”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Jona frowns. “You’re just a little kid too.”

Kushina matches her posture, though her frown is slightly more furious. “Am not! I’m almost a ninja! I’m already at the Academy!”

“Almost doesn’t count,” Jona sing-songs back to her. 

“ _ Stupid  _ little imouto! Just wait til I—”

The chase begins. Jona doesn’t hold back whatsoever because not only has she never been the smaller of this scenario but Kushina  _ is  _ a tiny ninja-in-training. It doesn’t last long, though honestly Jona is having fun despite being tackled to the ground when she tries to slip away into the hall. 

“Brats!”

They both freeze at the sound of Tsunade’s voice. Their heads snap toward the sannin, who is standing furiously and long-sufferingly at the end of the hall. 

“Obaa-san told you to take care of your new imouto, Kushina-chan,” Tsunade grinds out, her fists tightly clenched at her hips. “Killing her would be disgraceful.”

“She started it,” Kushina mumbles. 

“Did not!” Jona shoves her, but she doesn’t even budge from the pin she has on her.

“ _ Girls _ .”

“Fine,” they chorus, begrudgingly. Kushina peels herself off of Jona, refusing to so much as look at the younger girl. Jona brushes herself off emphatically, glaring at the taller redhead. 

A silence follows that Jona vaguely thinks is from Tsunade’s general lack of grace with children and Kushina’s giant ego, so she decides to break it. 

“I’m hungry.”

“So find something to eat,” Tsunade snaps, turning away from the girls toward some unknown part of the house. 

Jona follows quickly and, surprisingly, so does Kushina. 

“But I can’t cook!” Lie. Of course Jona can cook, she’s been on her own for years and was an adult before becoming the dream-self four year old she is now. She glances at Kushina to see the girl mostly agreeable to this turn of events and not looking ready to choke her anymore so she decides to extend an olive branch to her new ‘sister’. “Tsun-tsun, can you take us to get ramen?” 

Predictably, Kushina lights up. “Yeah! Please!”

“No.”

“ _ Please, _ ” Jona begs, going as far as dropping to her knees once Tsunade has stopped actively walking away from them. 

“No,” Tsunade says again, almost growling. “I’m having dinner with Dan.” 

“I love Dan-san!” Kushina pipes up, practically hopping up and down beside her. “He can come too! We can all get ramen!”

“ _ No _ -”

“Of course we can, Tsunade.”

Another screech, though smaller this time, bursts from Jona’s lips and for fuck’s sake, she’s really gotta stop getting scared so easily. This is a  _ ninja  _ village. Stealth is a Thing here. Kushina glares at her a little before sprinting up to the man in what looks like an entryway. 

She hugs him fiercely. “Dan-san!”

“Hi there, Kushina-chan,” he says, his voice smooth and gentle and  _ so  _ unlike Tsunade’s that Jona almost laughs. “I hear we have another little Uzumaki mouth to feed, ne?”

Kushina pouts, arms still latched around his middle. “Mito-sama says that Jona-chan is my imouto now and I should protect her, but she’s just a baby.”

“I’m not a baby!”

They ignore her. 

“You were a baby once too, Kushina-chan,” Dan says wisely, smiling down at her. “It’s good leadership practice to take care of a little sibling. That could help you make chunin faster.”

“Really?” Kushina stares up at him, practically gobsmacked. She turns to Jona who quickly does  _ not  _ like the look in Kushina’s eyes. “Alright shrimp, here’s the deal. I’ll be your nee-san and you can be my imouto so that I can make chunin so that I can make jounin so that I can be Hokage someday, ‘ttebane. Got it?”

Jona has never been a younger sibling. She was the eldest in her past life and honestly, being a younger sibling sounds  _ awful _ . But! This is a fictional universe full of characters she already loves— even Kushina and all her chaotic rage. 

“I guess,” she answers. 

Kushina tries to squish her like a bug with just her eyes. 

“Good,” Dan says proudly. “Now, ramen?”

  
  
  


The village is pretty exciting, partially because of all the expectation that comes from Jona’s past life obsession with the anime and partially because it’s beautiful in that full-of-life kind of way that she’s always treasured. Kushina and Dan talk more easily than she would have thought they would, not having known the two had ever crossed paths from the anime alone. She hangs back a bit with Tsunade, who is still firmly trying not to like how cute Jona knows she is at this age. 

When Jona tries to subtly raise her hands in a request toward the once-wayward blonde, Tsunade pointedly ignores her. So then she stage-whispers, “Please?” knowing that Dan and Kushina will likely overhear. 

They do. Dan checks over his shoulder to see Jona’s short little arms raised toward his girlfriend. He smiles. “I’ll carry you on my back, Jo-chan.” 

Instantly, Jona loves him. 

Too bad she’ll have to refuse him. 

She shakes her head, frowning in a pouty way that only a child can accomplish successfully. Her attention back on Tsunade, she points at the woman and begs again. “Please?”

Tsunade attempts to ignore her again, but Dan clears his throat. 

“C’mon, Tsunade,” he says carefully. “She’s your cousin.”

After a grumble that twists and grates behind tightly closed lips, Tsunade relents. “Fine.”

And that’s how Jona is happily carried the rest of the way to the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen stand. 

Unfortunately, due to its new-to-the-village status, it’s also quite busy and by the time the four of them find their way to the bar stools, there are only three available. This suits Jona just fine, however, completely pleased to stay close to Tsunade even as she starts yelling at one of the other customers- oh, wait. 

That’s Jiraiya. 

A flash of grief thrums across her chest, but she stows it away because that’s ridiculous. He’s a fictional character. She shouldn’t be mourning him. Although, he is  _ right there _ so it seems a little less ridiculous and a little more surreal.

Kushina takes a seat between Tsunade and Dan, leaving Jona to somewhat fend for herself in Tsunade’s arms while the woman berates her teammate beside her for possibly eating at the same establishment as her. 

“We were here first, hime,” Jiraiya says in that jovial lilt he always has, but only when he says  _ we  _ does Jona notice the boy opposite herself on the toad sage’s other side. 

Minato is even prettier than she imagined he would be, though he’s bigger than she is-- Kushina’s age. Besides, she wouldn’t want to break up their inevitable love story and sabotage Naruto’s existence. 

Still, he’s  _ so  _ pretty. Even as a kid. 

She tilts her head, wondering,  _ when will Itachi be born again?  _

“And who is this?” 

Tsunade grumbles low at Jiraiya’s words and Jona can feel it in the woman’s chest as she leans back against it. “My cousin. No sign of her parents, though Obaa-san has long thought them dead. Her father was my father’s eldest brother.” 

“Aww,” Jiraiya drawls before nudging her with an elbow. “Hime, are you practicing for the future?” 

Dan nearly drops his menu and Kushina snickers behind her hands while Minato blushes and looks away.

Tsunade glares at him. “If you think I can’t kill you with a kid on my lap you’re dead wrong.”

“If you say so,” Jiraiya answers cheerily. 

A much younger Teuchi comes by to take their orders and Jona chooses miso with genuine excitement. She actually does love ramen, though she only tried the real thing after getting into the anime. 

Because, well, she’s a weeb. 

Whatever. 

“Is she going to join the Academy?” Jiraiya asks at one point, pulling her attention away from her noodles. That said, if he’d been talking while she was eating her boiled egg, she would have completely ignored him. The egg is her favorite part. 

Tsunade shrugs, but Dan and Kushina seem to be paying attention. 

“It’s up to Obaa-san and Sensei, though it will likely be expected of her.”

“I’m right here,” she pipes in helpfully and Jiraiya laughs. 

“Well then,” he says. “Do you want to join the Academy, kid?”

“Of course I do!” she blurts out without even thinking about it. But really, she wants to be relevant and meet the characters she’s loved for so long. What other choice does she possibly have?

Her past life skill set is not particularly helpful for becoming an assassin, even if that  _ might  _ have been one of her dream jobs in middle school. She can shoot a gun better than most people with very little training, seemingly picking up the aim and force intuitively, though that isn’t really applicable here. Sports had always come easily to her, as had most physically demanding practices. It’s just some type of instinct, set in her blood or her brain or something. 

It’s an adaptable trait that will hopefully help a girl out in a ninja school. 

“Psh,” Kushina scoffs, her chopsticks poised in the air above her bowl. “You’ll be too scared to ever be a ninja, imouto! Ninjas are brave!” 

“I’m brave!” Jona counters quickly. “Being brave isn’t about being not scared! It’s about doing the brave thing even when you’re scared!” 

Or something like that. She doesn’t really remember how the saying goes. 

But there’s a silence around her and even Minato is leaning forward a bit to look at her past Jiraiya, whose brows are drawn up high above his eyes. He whistles. “Smart one, are you? What’s your name, kid?”

She fights the urge to cross her small arms over her chest and channels all the pride she can manage to look him in the eyes. 

“Uzumaki Jona!” she declares, before giggling a bit. “But Jo is fine.”

  
  


Once they’re back to the compound, Dan included, Jona makes for Mito’s room. The caretaker, whom she now knows is a civilian named Shouko Kita, wards her off saying that Mito-sama is resting. This does not divert her for long, as she escapes from her bedroom shortly after to sneak in to see her new life grandmother anyway. 

Mito blinks her eyes open slowly at her entrance, smiling softly when she sees Jona shuffling across the room with bare feet to climb onto the bed beside her. 

“Hi, Baa-chan,” Jona says quietly. “If you’re feeling tired, I can tell the story this time?”

Mito drags an arm over the bed, leaving room for Jona to nestle in close. “Very well, little one.”

“Okay! Well, today I met Kushina-neesan and I don’t like her very much so far, but she doesn’t like me a whole lot either, but I think that it’ll be okay because we’re sisters now, you know?” Mito hums softly, her hand rising up to settle on Jona’s hair as she continues. “Then I got Tsunade-hime and Dan-san to take us out for ramen for dinner and we met Jiraiya-san and Minato-san and I like them okay, but Jiraiya-san is kind of annoying.” 

She tells Mito all about her first experience outside the compound; from talk of the Academy to the weather to the way Minato-san blushes anytime Kushina-neesan talks to him even though she’s not very nice. She talks even after Mito stills and her breathing evens out with sleep. She talks into the evening until she feels her own eyelids droop and then she falls steadily asleep. 

  
  


The next time she wakes she has a hard time maintaining her illusion that this is all a dream. Taking a nap during a dream is a stretch already, but waking up  _ twice  _ all within the same dream feels a little far-fetched. Distracting herself skillfully, as usual, she cuddles further into Mito who is apparently already awake and finds her movement permission to pick up on brushing idle fingers through her hair. 

“Sleep well?” Mito asks her. 

Jona hums an affirmative, eyes still shut. “Do you want breakfast? Or water?”

“Water would be lovely.”

Slipping out from under Mito’s arm, Jona flits across the room with soft steps. It takes a moment to remember the layout of the home after barely venturing around yesterday, but she finds her way to the kitchen to pilfer for a glass and fill it with tap water. 

“Thirsty?” Kita asks and Jona jumps but focuses on keeping the water from spilling out of the glass. 

“No, it’s for Baa-chan,” she answers, quickly scampering back to Mito’s room without waiting for any more commentary. Mito takes the water from her gracefully and sips while Jona climbs back on the bed, proud she didn’t spill any water on her trot across the house considering the mobility of her young body. “What’s your plan for today, Baa-chan?” 

Mito presses down on her grin, the glass of water still near her lips. “Same as usual. Visiting with my loves.”

“Like Hashirama-sama?”

“Your Jii-chan,” Mito playfully corrects. “He would have loved to meet you. He treasured anyone who spoiled me like you do.”

“I wish I could have met him too,” Jona says quietly, her thoughts drifting off toward her past life grandfather and the way his mind drained away in his last years, leaving him a shell of who she barely remembered as a child. 

“There’s my brother too,” Mito continues, mercifully distracting Jona’s sinking thoughts. “He would have  _ adored  _ you, the little heathen,” she laughs. “His name was Haru and he could never take anything seriously, even as the heir to the clan.”

“He sounds fun,” Jona says, smiling wider when Mito does. “Did I have siblings before Kushina-nee?”

“Ah,” Mito pauses, humming. “I don’t know. Your father never stayed in contact with us, though I did eventually learn of his life in Uzushio with his wife.”

“What was he like?”

Mito looks at her for a long moment before tucking a few stray copper hairs behind both her ears. “He inherited my seriousness, unfortunately. Hashi’s rebellious nature and hard-headedness didn’t help much, I’m sure.”

Jona tugs her lips to the side, comparing the unnamed man to her past life father, but Mito interprets the action entirely differently. 

“He was good, like you,” she says, her tone softer, warmer. “Strong too. Unshakable and independent— all traits I hope that you have in spades.”

“Of course!” she quickly assures her new grandmother, but before she can go on there’s a knock at the door. 

Kita pokes her head in. “Mito-sama, Hokage-sama has answered your request and is waiting in the sitting room.”

Mito’s smile is sharp and stiff, completely changed from the warmth Jona’s seen in them when they’re directed at her. “Lovely,” she says. “Let him in, please.”

Kita nods and retreats. 

Jona blinks at Mito. “Should I leave, Baa-chan?” 

Soft fingers brush at her hair again as Mito contemplates. “Not yet,” she decides. “Though Sarutobi-kun might ask you to at some point.”

“Okay, Baa-chan.” 

When the Sandaime enters, he shows no surprise that Jona is there, reminding her to work on figuring out chakra sooner rather than later. Maybe she could ask Baa-chan for advice?

“Mito-sama,” Sarutobi says and the respectful exchange between the two of them feels warm and bright. “You needed to speak with me on urgent matters?”

“Yes.” Mito shifts her head a hair to the side, looking straight at the Sandaime past Jona. “In light of finding my blood granddaughter with heavy Uzumaki genes, I intend to pass on my tenant to her.” 

Sarutobi is suddenly very, very still and Jona feels extremely out of place, even if she is among the subject matter of the meeting. 

“We have already discussed this with Kushina-chan,” he says after a long, tense silence. “And the council has already decided it.”

“Yes, well, this is my legacy as much as it is Konoha’s and I intend to give it to my blood,” Mito presses, her voice steely and severe for the first time that Jona has ever heard it. “I will remind the council myself that there would not  _ be  _ a tenant to pass on, nor would there be a standing village for them to rest their head on their pillows at night were it not for me and my actions. Jona is just as valid a vessel as Kushina, if not more so. This is my will.”

The poker face Sarutobi sets into is strong and stoic— very  _ ninja _ . Jona watches them both carefully until he suddenly turns his attention to her. 

“And do you realize what this will mean for you, Jona-chan?”

Sort of? 

But she can’t say that. 

“It means I will have a piece of my Baa-chan when she’s gone,” she says quietly, thinking of an old, tarnished cooking pot missing a handle back in her apartment in her past life. The tears come naturally, but she keeps them at bay. “I want to carry her burden just as she has for so long. I want to honor her life and I would gladly give mine to do it.”

They’re words too wise for a four year old, she knows, but the adults don’t seem to mind. Mito places a hand on her small shoulder, beckoning her closer and Jona needs no more invitation to slide across the bed and settle into her side. Sarutobi observes them silently, the gears turning in his head almost visible. 

“Very well,” he finally says. “I will bring this to the council. You will both likely be summoned.”

Mito dips her chin in acquiescence. 

“Your granddaughter loves you very much.”

A hand pets over Jona’s hair. “And I love her more.”

With that, the Sandaime leaves. 

Jona hides her face in Mito’s side as she continues to run her fingers through her hair for long after he’s gone. 

  
  


That afternoon, when Kushina comes home from school, Jona is out in the backyard that’s more a forest and a training ground than anyone could ever call a simple yard. A while after the Hokage left, she managed to ask Mito about chakra and was given an example in the form of a touch as an answer. After a quick lunch with both Mito and Kita, she set out to try her hand at meditating. 

Being with the trees, with nature in general, proved to be extremely soothing for her. Back in her past life, she was constantly indoors and with a phone glued to her hands. She’d neglected the part of herself that always felt a little more in touch with her spirit, with her intuition, than most others seemed to in favor of accessing needless entertainment (read: fan fiction and other escapist tendencies). 

That said, one of her favorite life experiences had always been early morning runs. There’s something ethereal about the exertion amidst nature, about being present when the sun rose into the sky to offer every soul on the planet a fresh beginning. 

Though it’s now late afternoon, she can still feel that intrinsic pull toward nature, towards her very existence. Just as she feels the thrum beneath her skin, much like the feeling of tapping into her spirit, her intuition, only livelier, more vibrant and  _ tangible _ … Kushina bursts out the back doors. 

“Imouto! What do you think you’re doing?!” 

Jona frowns, sucking in a deep breath that breaks her trance and ends her connection with what she’s  _ sure  _ is her chakra. “Nothing.”

Kushina scowls at her, crossing the field that separates them. “Looks like you were meditating. What’s a little kid like you got to meditate about, hm?” 

Jona shrugs, not wanting the elder to pry the truth out of her. “Hey, Nee-san?” 

“Hm?”

“Can you teach me taijutsu?”

Purple eyes freeze on her and Jona waits… and waits. 

Finally, she says, “What?”

“Why do you want me to teach you taijutsu?”

“Because I want to learn it,” she answers her petulantly. 

Kushina seems far more intrigued by this idea than Jona had expected her to be. It makes her nervous. 

“Well, fine then,” Kushina says, her demeanor completely changing back into something haughty. “It’s only fair that you learn from the best, ne?” 

A breath of a laugh leaves her nose before she can stop it and Kushina raises an angry brow at her. She gulps. 

“Well,  _ imouto _ , get up and get into a stance.” She does. “You ready for me to kick your ass, you big  _ baby _ ?” She’s not. 

But after the initial beatdown, Jona starts to catch on, just like she used to with any new sport or other physical activity. It rarely takes more than once to teach her something new, physical or otherwise, so she’s not faring quite as bad in her first-ever fight as she thought she would have. Still, Kushina has been doing this for a while and has none of the first time hesitancy that Jona does. Not to mention Kushina is more than twice Jona’s age. 

And even after desperately trying to catalog every new thing she’s picked up from the ‘spar’ -- it was an entirely one-sided beatdown, let’s be honest -- the moment Kushina calls it quits and actually offers her hand to Jona to help her up, she decides it’s all going to be worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

After Mito confirms that she naturally wakes up before sunrise, Jona asks her baa-chan to wake her the next morning. She sleeps with Mito again, not even sure where that guest room she was in the first night is, and sure enough, Mito wakes her before dawn. 

Feeling the familiar itch to explore, Jona sets out on her first morning run, which apparently isn’t all that weird for a four year old in a shinobi village. Her new clothes feel slightly more shinobi-like, though toddler sized. If it weren’t for Kita, who had taken it upon herself to care for Jona since she’s spent almost all of her time exclusively with Mito, then Jona would still be wearing that same plain outfit from the hospital two days ago. 

Running as a child feels strange, but the concept is comforting. The first pastels of morning have to waft through the high trees that surround the hidden village, before painting themselves overhead. The burn of her muscles is familiar, the second wind always barely out of grasp as she chases it, letting some song from her past life hum through her mind. 

She wanders for a while, legs aching, but she knows that she can’t stop or she won’t want to start again. All she wants is to find somewhere to see the sky, to have a view of today’s beginning. The only height she can see above the tops of buildings and trees is the monument— three carved faces on the side of a mountain. She runs for it blindly, weaving through dirt roads until she’s fervently lost, but eventually there’s a path that leads up the side of the mountain. It’s a climb, and she’s never really tested herself in such an exercise, but there are few physical things she’s found herself incapable of, so she reaches up and  _ pulls _ .

It takes insurmountably longer than she thinks it would have taken any ninja, but she climbs. And doesn’t look down until she feels the thrill of the wind in her hair— her favorite feeling. 

Freedom. 

The village is large and colorful in the dawn light and she feels infinite, on top of the world while she clings to rocks for her small, short second life. One deep breath to soak it in, and she’s climbing again until she drags herself over the top, ignoring the scrapes on her exposed arms and the tears in her new ninja clothes. 

It’s beautiful. 

She sits as close to the edge as she can, enjoying the flutter of adrenaline the height gives her, and compartmentalizes. Some part of her has accepted that this is not just a dream, but that part of her - the part that might reminisce on all the people she’s left behind - is neatly tucked away in a box. It’s there, it exists, she knows, but she will not touch it. 

Instead she thinks ahead. All in all, she feels optimistic about her options in this new life. She’s an Uzumaki. A Senju, really, even if she has more Uzumaki blood in this body than Senju. Her father was the first son of the Shodaime Hokage. She is a legacy. 

It’s flattering and thrilling and the pride that thickens and warms her brings along its familiar companion of shame for thinking so highly of herself, even if it’s only in her mind. Still, she  _ is  _ proud. She wants to live up to Uzumaki Mito, to Senju Hashirama. Having large shoes to fill is not a foreign concept to her. 

She can do it. 

She  _ wants  _ to do it. 

So, so badly. 

There’s a long road ahead of her if she wants to taste greatness, however. She’ll actually need to learn ninja skills. She’ll need to train herself with a discipline that she rarely possessed in her past life, despite all her potential. It’s daunting— facing one of her long greatest weaknesses. 

But she’s spent too much time with Mito to let her down like she did her first-life grandmother. There was so much more she could have done, should have done…

“Oi, kid.”

She startles, flailing wildly  _ way  _ too close to the edge of a cliff, but she manages not to fall. Jiraiya stands to the side with a raised brow, Minato a few steps behind him. 

“Jumpy?”

“Shut up,” she mumbles back. 

He chuckles once, the sound bouncing out of his chest. “You up for a little field trip?”

Jona perks up, immediately torn between the excitement of adventure and anxiety at her own weakness in a world both unknown and distantly familiar. “What kind of field trip?” she asks him with a lilt in her voice. 

“A pretty big one,” he admits, casting a quick glance back at Minato. “I want to take you and Kushina-chan to meet some friends of mine. Sensei has already agreed.”

She frowns as she contemplates. If the Sandaime needed to approve then these  _ friends  _ were either important or they were leaving the village. 

“Where?”

“Pretty far away,” Jiraiya says, stalking over the head of the first Hokage, where Jona first planted herself. He sits beside her and Minato follows shortly. “We’ll be gone for at least a week.”

Well, she thinks, it would be good endurance training. But—

“What about Baa-chan?” she practically whispers. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”

Jiraiya studies her for a moment. “Mito-sama is a big girl. She’ll be alright without you for a little while.”

But Jona shakes her head. “I have to ask her first.”

“Fine,” Jiraiya says after a long pause. “But we leave at dawn tomorrow morning, with or without you. Kushina-chan has already agreed and will be excused from school.”

Jona pulls her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “I’m still gonna ask Baa-chan.”

  
  


She ends up asking Minato for a piggyback down the mountain, not trusting Jiraiya despite her love for the pervy sage from the anime version of this life. The man takes off predictably, but Minato walks her all the way back to the compound and when Kushina lays eyes on him, she immediately drags him away for sparring practice in the backyard. 

Jona bids Kita a hello in the kitchen as she passes, quickly finding her way back to Mito’s room. 

“Baa-chan,” she sighs, extending the name in dramatics. “Jiraiya-san wants to take me out of the village.”

Mito pinches a doting smile as Jona climbs onto the bed beside her and it makes the wrinkles around her mouth pull and stand out. “So I’ve heard. You don’t want to go?”

“Of course I want to go!” she snaps, aghast and still a little dramatic. “But I don’t want to just leave you, Baa-chan. Will you be okay?”

“Oh, my sweet, sweet Jojo,” Mito sings, her voice low as she places a gentle hand to Jona’s hair. “I will be right here waiting for your return.”

Jona frowns at her, but nods slowly. 

“Go. Have fun. Stay safe.”

She cuddles into her newest grandmother’s side and grumbles, “Fine.” 

But her earlier thoughts swirl through her mind, feelings and questions and wants all melding together in that unstoppable way that always tends to put her foot in her mouth. Still, she can’t stop herself. 

“Baa-chan?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I really an Uzumaki?”

Mito stiffens, only enough to show surprise, not quite upset by the question. “Of course you are. Why are you asking?”

“Why am I not a Senju? Why am I not Senju Jona?”

There’s a pause before Mito’s hands start to unwind the braid in Jona’s copper hair. She trails her fingers through the ends, working her way up its length. “I suppose you can be whichever you’d like,” Mito says finally. “Technically, you would be the Senju clan heir by blood, while Kushina-chan would be the Uzumaki’s as the last full-blood.”

“Not Tsun-tsun?”

Mito smiles at the nickname, like Jona hoped she would. “No,” Mito says softly. “Your father was the rightful heir, not Tsunade’s. The title falls to you after me, if you wish it.”

“Ah, but Baa-chan, I’m too little. No one will take me seriously.”

A tap to her nose startles her and she looks up at Mito with wide eyes. “Others will always take you as seriously as you take yourself, little one.” 

Jona watches the elderly woman mystically for a few moments before nodding solemnly.

“I believe you.”

  
  


Mito wakes her the next morning, though Kita is already in the bedroom as well. She has a pack with her that looks quite old and worn, though the clothes bundled in her hands seem crisp and new. Jona blinks away the sleep in her eyes to stare at the brand new shinobi sandals that look just small enough to fit her little four year old feet. 

The excitement hits her hard. 

She bursts up, suddenly full of energy and only fits a shower in because Kita demands it and Mito backs her up. Mito braids her wet hair while Kita helps wrap the bandages around the ankles of Jona’s new ninja pants. The deep green material is darker than she’s seen on the few ninja vests she spotted throughout the village on her excursion yesterday and Jona instantly loves it. Her green eyes sparkle above the forest green and she knows the golden flecks will brighten with the color. 

The shirt makes her surprisingly emotional. It’s long sleeved, and Kita is quick to bandage down her wrists as well to keep the loose fabric from flailing in the wind. She doesn’t bother reminding them that she will be doing no tree hopping, because her attention is particularly fixed on the patches sewn into both her upper arms. 

A Senju and Uzumaki crest on either side. 

When it’s finally time to go, she hugs Mito fiercely, careful with her despite all her years as a ninja. Mito kisses her temple, petting away her bangs. 

“The pack was your Jii-chan’s,” she whispers into her ear. “I filled it myself. I hope it brings you luck, Jojo-chan.”

Jona tries not to cry and swears she’ll protect the backpack with her life. 

  
  


The pack is, unsurprisingly, too big for her. Somehow though, it’s ridiculously light and she keeps both her hands tucked under the straps, holding them tight as she and Kushina practically skip out of the compound. 

“I told my  _ whole  _ class that I’m going on a mission before even graduating!” Kushina boasts, her own pack the correct size for her body. She’s dressed more fashionably than Jona who looks more like a mini-ninja, but she hardly minds. Kushina hums a victorious tune. “This is going to be  _ awesome _ , imouto! Just make sure not to run off and get lost and ruin everything.”

“I’m not gonna ruin anything!” Jona argues, but it only makes Kushina grin and snap back. 

“But you will get lost?”

“No! I’m gonna learn to be more like a ninja.” Jona grips her straps harder, raising her chin. “Besides, if this is a mission then it’s even cooler that  _ I  _ get to go.”

“No way! My first time leaving the village was years ago! I was six!”

“Well, I’m four!”

“That doesn’t make you better!”

They bicker all the way to the gates and Jona promptly loses all words at the sight of such a massive thing. She gapes up at the dark red pillars, only vaguely aware of Jiraiya and Minato waiting for them until a voice breaks into her awe. 

“Am I late?”

A handsome man strolls up to their small group and Jona places him immediately, suddenly even more excited for their trip. 

“Shame on you, Hatake,” Jiraiya chides the other jounin while Jona tries to guess their ages. “A shinobi should always be on—”

“Sensei,” Minato says and Jona blinks at him, his voice still a little foreign in this world where he’s the shyest person she’s met so far. “You’re only on time because I picked you up.”

Hatake Sakumo barks out a laugh at the sannin’s expense and Jiraiya glares at his student. “New lesson, brat. Always support your Sensei’s story.”

Minato shrugs, fighting a blush. He looks away pointedly. 

Meanwhile, Kushina ambles up to the newcomer, waving a bold hand in his face. “Hiya! The name’s Uzumaki Kushina and I’m gonna be the Hokage one day, ‘ttebane!” 

Sakumo’s lips twitch into an indulgent smile. “Nice to meet you, Kushina-chan. I am Hatake Sakumo. Feel free to call me Sakumo.” He lowers to a crouch, facing Jona at her eye level. “And hello again, little one. It’s good to see you up and around.”

Jona frowns at him, less upset and more confused. Sakumo laughs a little, his voice thick and warm. 

“I suppose you wouldn’t remember. I’m the one who found you with my team. It’s nice to officially meet you…”

“Senju Jona,” she answers very, very carefully, making sure she doesn’t mess up the alteration to her name. She feels awkward having decided to change it, but she has Mito’s blessing and the name represents the legacy she wants to live up to. She won’t apologize for it. 

Sakumo’s brows raise in response. “Wow, I knew I had found someone special!”

Shamelessly, she beams at the praise, taking a step closer to him. “Thank you, Sakumo-san!” 

“Well, we need to get going,” Jiraiya announces. He turns to Kushina. “How’s your tree walking?” 

“I can keep up just fine, Jiraiya-san!” The girl beams at him, but Jona feels like it’s just more of her excitement over their little adventure and less her actual fondness for Jiraiya. 

Jiraiya soaks up the attention seamlessly. “Great. We’ll let you run with us for a while, but eventually we’ll have you rest to pick up some speed. Don’t throw a fit over it, okay?”

Kushina promptly pouts. 

Jona scoots even closer to Sakumo who is still crouched to her level. When she pats him childishly on the shoulder a few too many times, he lifts a hand to her small back for balance and hums in question. 

“I can’t use chakra,” she admits quietly, even though she knows that the rest of them don’t expect her to be able to run through trees with them. “Not yet, at least,” she quickly amends. “What am I gonna do?”

Sakumo purses his lips, making a comical thinking face and tilting his head a little to the side. He comes off very dad-like and Jona wonders if Kakashi is born yet. “Well,” he says, “one of us will carry you. Your choice. Though I  _ do  _ have wolves I could summon to give you a ride…”

He says it teasingly, she knows, possibly wanting to show off his summons to make her excited, but it doesn’t work. Jona never liked animals all too much, she prefers people. So, instead of lighting up at the mention of  _ wolves _ , she lunges toward him, knocking him off his balance and sending them tumbling back into the dirt. 

“I choose you!” she giggles and Sakumo  _ oofs _ before chuckling.

Jona ignores Kushina calling her a big baby and clambers on Sakumo’s back, preparing herself for take off just in time for them to fly through the Fire Country trees. 

  
  


Tree jumping or whatever it’s called is much more boring than it seems in the anime. The hours pass by slowly and Jona stays nestled on Sakumo’s back. If their pace changes whatsoever, she doesn’t notice, even when she squints through the wind to watch Kushina and Minato running side by side ahead of them. Jiraiya leads their way, leaving Sakumo and Jona at the rear. Every once in a while she wonders whether it makes sense to put the only chakra-less member of their group at the back, more or less exposed, but she always stows the worries away, choosing to trust in Sakumo and Jiraiya’s ninja abilities. 

They break for a late lunch and Jona feels a strange sort of nausea at being set down on her own two feet again for the first time in hours. It makes her quiet, quiet enough that she doesn’t antagonize Kushina when she cheers on and on about how she’s not even tired and how she kept up with their pace perfectly. 

“We’re gonna push for the next few hours,” Jiraiya says as he settles against the trunk of a tree, tossing Sakumo his pack that he’d worn for their trip so far. “There’s a village near the border that we can spend the night in before heading into Ame.”

Jona’s head jerks toward him, but he’s already moving on to digging through his pack for something to eat. 

Ame? Why would Jiraiya be taking them to Ame? Isn’t the Second Shinobi War still a fairly recent event? That should be much too dangerous to take Jona and Kushina to, especially at their ages. Still, there are only so many  _ friends  _ of Jiraiya that Jona can think of in Ame that he might be inclined to introduce her to. 

But why?

It’s also the first time she’s felt that her presence might have made a difference in the shinobi world. Had Jiraiya once escorted Kushina to Ame and it was simply never mentioned in the anime? How did alternate fictional universes  _ work  _ dammit?! 

“Hungry?” Sakumo’s soft voice interrupts her internal dilemma. “Did you pack something to snack on?”

Jona blinks at him, letting her old, deep green pack slip off her shoulders so she can reverently settle it in her lap as she sits beside him. She flips it open carefully, staring inside even as she quietly tells him, “Baa-chan packed it for me.”

“Baa-chan?”

“She calls Mito-sama that,” Kushina pipes in helpfully before returning to her one-sided conversation with Minato. 

“Cause she  _ is  _ my Baa-chan,” Jona grumbles, hoping she’s quiet enough to keep Kushina out of her business. She’s not really in the mood to argue right now. Her chest is still swimming in that bizarre motion sick sort of vertigo that either settles itself once she’s back on solid ground or after she takes a nap. 

Digging through the bag, a hint of confusion whispers through her mind, though the logic from the anime answers her well enough. 

Still. 

“Scrolls?”

Jiraiya guffaws, sliding over a little closer to her and Sakumo to peek inside. “Of course the last Uzumaki Seal Mistress would pack her granddaughter’s go-bag entirely into sealing scrolls. You know how to open those, kid?”

Jona shakes her head.

Technically, she knows that sealing scrolls can open with a little application of chakra, though it’s definitely possible that some are more complex than those, especially ones made by a true Uzumaki. Knowing that does  _ not  _ help her open them though, so there’s no point in telling them as much. 

“Here,” Sakumo says, as he digs inside to retrieve a scroll, opening it enough to check out the seal inside. “Er, actually, Jiraiya?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the toad sage mumbles. “Give ‘em here.”

He reaches for the entire pack and Jona clings to it viciously. “Be careful!” she snaps, more afraid than angry. “This was Jii-chan’s.”

Both Sakumo and Jiraiya’s eyes widen. They look at each other and even Minato and Kushina seem to check out the nondescript backpack in their four year old companion’s lap. 

“The Shodaime?” Sakumo breathes, the words so quiet. 

“Jii-chan,” Jona confirms, nodding her head as she gently angles the mouth of the bag toward Jiraiya. “So be careful.”

“Alright, kid.”

It takes a few minutes and about four scrolls before he finds her rations, but he manages to unseal them with little fanfare. The ration bar and apple both taste better than she expects, but it has been way too long since she can remember eating a fruit, though Kita has made sure she’s eaten vegetables at every meal at the Senju compound. 

When they take off for the second time, Jona is once again secured to Sakumo’s back, Senju Hashirama’s bag a gentle weight on her shoulders as they fly through the trees. 

  
  


As they walk through the sleepy village, infinitely smaller than the Hidden Leaf, Jona can’t help but notice how awful their group is at being unassuming. They couldn’t have made a team with more obnoxious hair colors if they  _ tried _ . Silver, white, yellow, red, and orange. All traveling together. The thought leaves Jona feeling exposed and her quieter disposition lingers, even after her motion sickness seems to settle and the nausea fully resides. 

She holds Sakumo’s hand as they walk, making for the little inn Jiraiya remembers from all his travels. There aren’t many others out and about, though there are hardly a dozen buildings that make up the entire village. It’s barely a blip on the radar and Jona wonders what exactly defines a true village. 

When Jiraiya requests their rooms, he manages to flirt with the woman at the counter to no one’s surprise, though Kushina and Minato flank him and quickly manage to ruin his game. It’s bizarre to see this younger Jiraiya - in his mid-twenties, she’s finally decided - who is actually… quite handsome. The innkeeper seems to recognize him and Jona wonders whether or not they’ve already hooked up before this. 

“A room for the girls and a room for the guys,” he says casually, talking right over Kushina as she asks about the state of the baths in such a small place. 

Jona tugs on Sakumo’s hand and he looks down at her. 

“I want to stay with you,” she says quietly, somewhat regretting her paranoia. But she’s read plenty of these fan fictions and if there’s any breach in safety, she knows that as the youngest and most unskilled, she’s the one who is going to be kidnapped or killed. 

Sakumo gives her one of those adult smiles that cover up something they think a child can’t understand. “You’ll be alright with your nee-san, Jona-chan.”

She wants to argue, but Kushina is done grilling the woman at the counter over their accommodations and Jona would rather die than let Kushina hear that she’s  _ scared _ . But she’s not scared! She’s merely… worried. Understandably so. They’re near the border of Ame after a war just finished fighting there and she’s both a  _ Senju  _ and an  _ Uzumaki.  _ That’s not even taking into account that she’s  _ four  _ and she has no shinobi skills whatsoever! 

“Stop freaking out, imouto,” Kushina snipes through her thoughts. “I already told Mito-sama I would protect you! Calm down, yeesh.”

Sakumo pats her on the head, but the effort to be soothing is lost. 

Once they’ve procured their rooms, they move on to find dinner at the only business that cooks within the village. The menu consists of plain rice and meat dishes, though Jiraiya tells them their sauces are to die for. She’s smooshed between Kushina and Minato in a booth facing Sakumo and Jiraiya, her and Kushina sharing a single menu that’s little more than a notecard. 

“Just get what I’m getting, imouto,” Kushina says sagely, nodding her head at her own suggestion. “It’s my favorite thing they have, so you’ll probably like it.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Kushina-san.” Minato almost seems like he has to pause to work up the courage to speak directly to his once-classmate even though she’s almost always talking to or  _ at  _ him constantly. 

“Oh,” Kushina says, waving a flippant hand, “I don’t. She’s Tsunade-hime’s cousin or something. They found her half dead near Wave, I think? Mito-sama told me that we’re supposed to be sisters now ‘cause I’ve gotta watch over her.”

Jiraiya and Sakumo frown at the girl, but Jona keeps her head tucked down, eyeing the menu. 

“K-Kushina!” Minato stammers, his arm brushing against Jona’s shoulder. “That’s… not very nice to say about Jona-chan.”

“She’s fine,” Kushina drawls, though her tone does drift off into something like hesitation and Jona realizes that it’s probably because they would normally be arguing by now. 

Jiraiya, apparently thinking along the same lines, reaches out a hand across the table to intercept her attention. “You okay there, kid?”

Jona sets the menu down flat on the table, looking at the men opposite her while they study her with worry. “I’m okay.”

“You’re quiet,” Kushina snaps, like an accusation. “You’re never quiet.”

“I’m…”  _ nervous  _ “on alert,” she says. “This is my first time out of the village and I can’t fight.”

Sakumo’s expression softens further and Jona decides that Kakashi  _ has  _ to be born. How fatherly can a person be?

Jiraiya is the one who answers her though. “That’s what we’re here for. I even brought Sakumo along for backup when, really, you all are perfectly safe with just me around.”

“And Minato is a shinobi too, you know,” Sakumo puts in. “Jiraiya is his teacher now.”

“I know,” is all she can respond with, because she does. She  _ knows _ . But she also knows that perfectly capable shinobi die  _ all the time _ . It’s not comforting. “I just… I want to learn to fight on my own.”

The two men smile sadly at her and she looks back down at the menu, but Kushina is quick to elbow her side. 

“Why didn’t you just  _ say so,  _ imouto? I’m training you, aren’t I?!” 

Jona jerks her face up to Kushina’s. “You just beat me up one time and called me a baby!” 

“Yeah, well, I’ll always think you’re a baby,” Kushina says, haughty now that she’s gotten a reaction out of her. “But don’t think I’ll just sit by and let anyone else call you one. You’re  _ my  _ imouto to grind into a pulp! We’ll start in the backyard again as soon as we get back, ‘ttebane!” 

Jona grumbles a response of incoherent non-words, but there’s a warmth in her chest that wasn’t there before. She hadn’t really let herself feel the impact of Kushina’s denial over being sisters until the redhead went and fixed the problem. 

It’s rather annoying when Jona just wants to be mad at her nee-san.

“Oooh,” Kushina continues. “Maybe Minato can help too!” 

“Huh?”

“Minato will be training with-”

“Nonsense! Minato will definitely help you get super fast, imouto. And he’s a big nerd so he can help you study in the Academy-”

Kushina continues her rambling until their food arrives and when they head back to the inn, Jona isn’t  _ quite  _ as anxious about staying in a room with only her older sister as protection.

Still, she doubts she’ll feel all that safe tomorrow.


End file.
